Launching his party’s poll campaign for the impending Gujarat assembly election from the tribal-dominated Dahod town, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday promised to scrap the controversial Par-Tapi-Narmada River linking project. The proposed project is being opposed by a section of tribal leaders in the State.
Rahul tried to strike a chord with the tribal people at the ‘Adivasi Satyagraha Rally’ saying if his party comes to power, it would protect the water, land and forest belonging to members of tribal communities.
Training his guns on ruling BJP, Rahul said that the leaders of the saffron party want to snatch away water, land and forest from tribal people for big industrial projects and statues.
“Who would benefit from the river linking project at the cost of land and water of tribals? Congress wouldn’t allow them (BJP) to take away rights of tribals. Time has come to fight with the ruling set-up to get back what belongs to you. In this agitation, the Congress is with all the struggling members of tribal communities,” Rahul exhorted them.
Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said two Indias have been created since May 2014. One India is of the rich, a few select people, billionaires and bureaucrats who have power and money. The second India is of the common people including tribals, Dalits and underprivileged, he said.
The idea of two Indias is nothing but the ‘Gujarat Model’ Modi had created during his tenure as the Gujarat Chief Minister, he claimed.
“The Congress did not want two Indias in which resources – water, forest and land belonging to tribals and other poor people, are being given to a few affluent businessmen. Tribals put in hard work, build roads and bridges, buildings and other infrastructure in Gujarat. But what do they get in return? Nothing – neither good education nor health services,” he alleged.
The rally was attended by a large number of tribal people who came from all across the State’s 400 km long tribal belt. Gujarat Congress leaders have been putting in efforts since the past one month to make Rahul’s show a huge success as the grand old party is still having control over this important tribal belt.
In the past 20 days, PM Modi and Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal have also held huge tribal rallies in Dahod and Bharuch respectively. Of the 182 Assembly seats in Gujarat, tribals play a decisive role in at least 40 seats. In fact, 27 seats are reserved for tribal candidates only.
Rahul and other Congress leaders are trying hard to regain the party’s lost tribal bastion in a bid to wrest power from the BJP which is eyeing its seventh consecutive win in the Gujarat Assembly polls, slated in December this year.
Before 1995, the tribal belt also known as ‘Purvpatti’ (Eastern Belt) was a Congress stronghold. Despite mammoth efforts being continuously put by the ruling BJP, the Congress still has a strong presence here as out of the 27 reserved Assembly seats, 13 are with the Congress. The BJP has 11 seats while two seats are controlled by the Bhartiya Tribal Party (BTP). However, nine Lok Sabha seats including four reserved seats are with the BJP since the 2014 Parliamentary elections.
